Questions
regarding price and whether the Chevy Volt will be sold, leased, or
both have remained unanswered until now. While the price is
still up in the air, GM has announced that the Volt will be available
for
sale and for lease,
and the once-again newly
retired GM
Vice Chairman Bob Lutz could not be more excited for the November
2010 release date.
"I
love it. I just absolutely love it," said Lutz. "I think
it's a great car to drive. I'm personally going to get myself on the
list for one, no question about it. No question that I think it's the
greatest achievement of my career."
Lutz,
78, has been in the automotive business for 47 years, nine of which
were spent with GM. He is a former Marine fighter pilot who has
worked as an executive at all three Detroit carmakers as well as BMW.
He officially retired from GM on April 30 of this year, and had a
final farewell
party on
Tuesday in Warren, Michigan where his wife, Denise, and several GM
executives and employees were in attendance.
"I
think this is the third time I've retired," said Lutz. "I
think this time I can actually achieve it and not go back to work
full time for anybody.
"If
I see things going wrong, there will be the ghost of Bob Lutz, and it
ain't going to be friendly."
Lutz
was praised as one of the largest reasons for GM's $865
million profit
success after having to claim bankruptcy last
year. Lutz was to retire late last year, but stayed on board to work
with the creative aspects of GM's marketing, advertising and
designs.
"GM
is in good shape coming out of Chapter 11 because of Bob Lutz,"
said Tom Stephens, vice chairman of global product development. "You
taught us how important it was to listen-not only to other people,
but to listen to your gut. In the automotive industry, that gut
reaction is probably the most important reaction."
Lutz
received two gifts at his retirement party, one being a replica of
GM's Supercharged LS9 engine and the other a set of aluminum scale
models, most notably the Chevrolet Volt Plug-in hybrid. Lutz has made
the Volt the center of GM's campaign to become the industry's
environmental leader. He has compared the Volt to President
Kennedy's moon
shot,
saying it will be "sensational," and "will have the
same sort of symbolism."
"I
don't think it would be a vast overstatement to say the Volt is in
many ways symbolic of a renaissance in the American auto industry,"
said Lutz. "If we pull it off successfully, it can really put us
back at the top of the heap of automotive technology instead of being
called laggards that are being left behind by the Germans and the
Japanese."
The
2011 Chevrolet Volt will carry a 40 mile all-electric range and
on-board range-extending gasoline engine. While such new innovations
will likely make some buyers skeptical, GM expects the Volt to be
well-accepted by the public. Now, we wait for some purchase figures.
